Railroad-rail.



G. M. PETERS.

RAILROAD RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1913.

Batented July 28, 1914.

7 E NORRIS PETLRS 60.. :HZITO-LITHQ, wAsm' drum 0. cf

a UNITEDSSTATESK "PATENT oFFroE.

enasnorr lrnrnns, or oiivornivnrr, OHIO.

RAILROAD-RAIL.

To all whom it may concern) 1 Be it known that I, GnnsHoM M. Pn'rnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Rails,-of which the following is a specification. c

This invention pertains to anew and 1mproved form of rail for use in connection with steam, electric or other cars.

The invention consists in substantially the construction, combination and arrangement of the several partsshown in the accompanying drawings and described in the specification, but more particularly pointed out in the appended claims;

In the drawings: Figure 1 is'a cross-sec tion of one form of the rail; Fig. 2 is a cross-'secti on of a modified form. of the same;

Fig. 3' is a side elevation of a rail constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of a switch.

In the present railroad construction and in most of the exploited improvements thereto, it is customary vto abut two solid rails and to fastenthem together by means of side plates with bolts extending through the rails and side plates. The obvious disadvantage of this construction is that the joint of the rails cannot be kept smooth, and sooner or later the abutting edges of the rails become worn, causing a jar or jolt to be given to the car which runs over the rail, and also causing a disagreeable noise in so doing. The present invention contemplatesa rail constructed of two parts, one within the other, and with theparts of each rail so disposed thatthe joints of the interior and exterior members donot come at the same place. In other words, they are staggered with respect to each other so that there is no tendency of the combination rail to sag at one point more thananother, 0r to wear at the abutting joints of either the 1nterior or exterior rail more than at any other place. This produces a smooth, resilient and comparatively noiseless rail.

The preferred form of rail comprises an exterior member A, provided with the usual tread C, and formed with a central recess D from the base separating the web into two members E, which are divergent at their lower portion to form the extremities F at the base. An interior member B, which may be of hollow shell constructiom'as shown in Fig. 1, orwhichmay be a solid member B, as shown in Fig. 2, is adapted to fit the recess inthe exterior railA closely at allpoints so that it will be inactual con tact with the inside surface of therecess. This interior member B or B isfa'lso provided'with the divergent base portions G or G", the lower 'faces of which are substan tially in the same plane as the lower edges v v Specification of LettersPatent. I atent u y 23 1914, I Application filed. April 21, 1913. Serial N 0. 762,453. 2

of the extremities F of the exterior memher A. c I

The two rail members A and Bare adapt ed to rest upon the ties H in the usual manner and are secured thereto by means of the spikes Tor by any other wellknownfasteningdevices. Both the exterior rail member and the interior member are continuous in length and are arranged abuttingeach other in succession to form a continuous trail. The abutting points of the two rail-members are preferably spaced apart, 1 as shown nioreelearly in Fig. 3, in which theabutting point of the interior rail member is indicated by the character Jyand the abutting pointof the outer member isrepresented by r I i the character K. With this construction, the outer rail members will always be supported by, the inner rail member at their joint, and the inner rail "members will always be supported iand'protected by the outer .railmember at their joint. There is, therefore, no tendency of the rail to sag or to form an uneven jointrat any of the abutting places, and the. result isa continuous smooth rail which produces an even con 'tinuous' track over which cars: will ride smoothly and evenly and with minimum noise; I

lVith this construction, it .is obvious that no side platesor fastening bolts are necessary for securing the interior and. exterior railymembers together, for'both ofthem are held firmly in position by means of the spikes or other fastening devices. This resultsm a more easily malntained construction, for there are no bolts requiring watching and tightening, and there is no extra of a rivet L, as indicated in Fig. 4:. With terial; for example, the exterior rail mem-' ber may be composed of steel, while the interior rail member may be made of wrought iron, or other suitable material. If made of wrought iron or other similar material, it is probably better to make the interior rail member of solid construction, as shown in Fig. 2. More resiliency, however, is provided in a rail constructed as shown in Fig. 1, and a relatively stronger rail may probably be produced with less metal; for the division of the web distributes the weight on the rail to better advantage and makes a wider sustaining support for the tread. Both rails put together in this form are not only more resilient, but will so strengthen and support each other as to prevent buckling and bending. The side thrust is also better provided forbecause brought against the strength of a double arch and a lean-to of upright.

In the accompanying drawings and in the foregoing description is set forth thepreferred embodiment of myinvention, but itis obvious that one skilled in the art may make modifications thereof without departing from the principle of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A combination rail comprising an exterior casing formed with the usual tread and having its supporting sides curved exteriorly and interiorly with a gradually increasing curvature until it reaches the tie, and an interior supporting member fitting in a recess formed in the exterior casing and likewise having its side members curved to contact with the inner surface of the side members of the exterior casing until the lower ends of such interior supporting members likewise contact with the tie.

2. A combination rail comprising the usual solid tread and recessed below such tread in an increasing width of recess so as to form copies of this patent may he obtained for curved side supporting members, and an interior supporting member likewise recessed and contacting on its outer surface with the inner surface of the side supporting members from the tread to the base of such outer casing.

3. A composite rail comprising an outer casing having the usual solid tread and in teriorly recessed to form side supporting members extending with a gradually increasing divergent curvature to their base which rests on the tie, in combination with an interior supporting member fitting in such recess and having its side members follow on the curve of the side members of the casing both interiorly and exteriorly until it rests upon the tie, and means for fastening the base of the rail to the tie.

4. A composite rail comprising a solid tread and side wings curving downwardly therefrom with a gradually increasing ourvature exteriorly and interiorly until they form a practically horizontal support on the tie, in combination with an interior supporting member fitting between the flanges of the exterior member and likewise having depending fianges the outer surfaces of which correspond to the inner surfaces of the outer casing and follow the outlines thereof to the tie and are provided with a gradually widening interior recess, and means for clamping the base of the rail to the tie.

5. A composite rail comprising an exterior casing having the usual solid tread and vertical supporting side webs formed on a divergent curve interiorly and exteriorly and leaving within a gradually widening recess, in combination with an interior supporting member of similarly curved exterior surface to the interior curved surface of the casing and having a widening interior recess and two members of the rail joint of such longitudinal sections as will break joint with each other.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 17th day of April, A. D. 1913.

GERSHOM M. PETERS.

Witnesses:

MAUDE NEELY, SIMON Ross, Jr.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ratenta, Washington, I). 0. 

